Let The World Outside Disappear
by Love From A Muggle
Summary: All the tears she thought she had finished crying when he died, came back just by looking at a single photograph. Written for The Country Music Challenge at HPFC. Fred/Hermione one shot/complete. Fred's a bit OoC, but it fits with the story.


Disclaimer: I do not own the paragraph from the song, the Characters, or anything else. Just the idea of the story is mine.

A/N: Italics are flashbacks. Written for The Country Music Challenge.

_Dance with me_

_Don't say a word just dance with me_

_Let the world outside disappear_

_Baby, what we got here is all we need_

_Dance with me _

_~Johnny Reid-song-Dance With Me_

A picture in the box made her dig to get it. Tears sparkled like stars in the sky in her eyes as a teardrop touched the perfect picture as she wiped it away quickly before it dried up on the spot. Hermione breathed in as the Muggle photo captured the moment. She held on tightly to it against her chest as more tears fell. Her first night alone with him meant the world to her. She wanted the moment to be captured forever still, just like how it was. She had a passers by take a picture of the two of them with her camera.

"_I can't believe you've never eaten there before Fred!" Hermione smiled and laughed as they walked out of her favorite place. The day of their first date had finally arrived. Hermione couldn't have been more nervous. She really didn't believe he would ever ask her out, but when he admitted his liking of her after a Quidditch game one day, she gave him her home address. Hermione never expected him to come to her house her fifth year. He showed up on her door step one summer evening. _

"_Well, I don't get a chance to eat out much. Mum insists on cooking all the time. Hermione look, a shooting star," Fred said pointing to the star. _

"_You don't really believe in those silly things, do you?" Hermione said staring at where he was pointing. _

"_You think they are just a myth? Really now, since you didn't want to wish on that star . I'll take it," Fred grinned._

"_And what could you possibly wish for." Hermione crossed her arms and looked up at the sky. _

"_A dance with you," he said quietly. She stared in amazement at him. _

"_A dance? But why?" she asked._

"_I wanted to ask you to the Yule Ball, but I heard you had someone else in mind." Hermione couldn't believe that she was really on a date with Fred. _

"_But there's no music," she stated. At that moment, a violinist appeared from around the corner. Hermione eyed the magician and then eyed Fred. "How did you ...?" she started to ask. _

"_I had it arranged. He was to come around nine at night and play one song for me. I had hoped you would agree on a dance." Fred stretched his arm out waiting for her to accept it._

"_You really do know how to impress a girl don't you? Why all the hard work for me?" she asked accepting his arm. _

"_You need to relax. You work all the time, and spend no time playing or relaxing." Fred took her by the hand, brought her close to him. She could tell he was nervous, his hands were just as sweaty as hers as they started to dance. _

"_I mean, you've never made it seem like you liked me before, why now to show me how you feel?" she was asking deep questions she knew, but she wanted answers._

"_The first time I noticed there was something that attracted me to you was when I wanted something more than pleasantries exchanged between us. Whenever you were with Ron, you never said a word to me. Only a 'hello,' or 'Good bye' Was exchanged at meal times if I was lucky enough for that," _

Hermione touched her lips as if she had just kissed him. Her fingers ran across her dry lips bringing her back from the memory. She was going through a box of her private memories and found the still Muggle picture of them together. Funny how a single picture can trigger a memory whether or not you want it right at that moment.

Hermione missed Fred. The night he died, she cried over him. She cried so hard, that her eyes were red from crying. She felt like she betrayed him when she kissed Ron. But after that one special night together, they realized they could never be together without it truly meaning anything. Without anyone teasing them, or leaving them alone long enough to be together. Hermione couldn't bare to choose between him or Ron. She knew Ron would make her choose if he found out they were dating. So Hermione ended it with Fred before it could go further. Hermione stared at the picture.

"_I'm not sure if I can do this, Fred," she whispered as their picture was taken by the magician. He smiled, paid the man and then took the camera from him and waved good bye to the man. He then turned to Hermione._

"_What do you mean?" he asked. His throat was dry. He knew what she meant, but wanted to hear the words escape her lips. _

"_Us," she whispered._

"_Hermione, you haven't even given us a try yet. This was one date." He was pleading with her. _

"_But we will never have time to ourselves. Ron would never let it down. He'd make me choose," Hermione said._

"_What do you mean Ron will make you choose." He held on tight to the camera._

"_If Ron found out about us, he'd make me choose between you and him."_

"_My brother's not that much of a prat, Hermione," Fred replied. _

"_You don't know him like I do," Hermione admitted._

"_Don't know him? Hermione, I'm his brother, I've known him all of his life." He was upset with her and with himself, Hermione could tell. _

"_That's not what I meant, you don't know how he acts when he's jealous." Hermione did not like where their conversation was going. _

"_So this is the perfect ending to our first date? You breaking up with me before we had a chance?" He threw up his arms in anger. The camera fell out of his grasp, and before he could stop it, it shattered in pieces to the ground._

"_Oh, Hermione," Fred whispered. "I'm sorry," he said when he saw the tears in her eyes as she bent down to examine the broken camera. _

"_It was my birthday present from mum and dad." Hermione took out her wand, but knew magic would not be able to mend a Muggle item. Putting the wand away, Hermione sat there on the verge of tears. _

_Fred got on his knees in front of the camera. He stared at Hermione and realized she had never looked more beautiful than tonight. She was no longer his kid brother's best friend, but a woman sitting on the ground. Makeup ran as she started to cry. She looked up at him and was ashamed for crying in front of him. _

"_Hermione." He took out a camera from his pocket. She eyed him. _

"_Believe it or not, but I went to a psychic to see if our date would really work. She warned me to bring a second camera," Fred admitted. The camera was the exact same one he had broken. _

_Hermione stood up from the ground. She helped Fred up, put the camera in her purse and took his hand. _

"_Dance with me," she said. _

"_But there's no music." He threw her words nicely back at her. _

"_We really don't need music. I want to make up for attempting to break up with you." _

_They danced slowly in circles, letting the world outside disappear. Hermione didn't care that it was closing time in the restaurant and people were leaving. What mattered most was that moment she shared with Fred. When they finished dancing, she stopped the next Muggle she saw and asked them to take a picture of the two of them. The Muggle agreed, took the picture, handed it back to Hermione and left them alone. _

"_Now I have a picture to replace the horrible memory. Fred, I still don't see how we can be an item," she confessed after putting her camera in the purse. _

"_I know. It was a dream of mine. Thank you for at least going on a date with me. Even if it didn't end in a kiss." Instantly, Fred covered his mouth with his hand. He had wanted to kiss her, but didn't mean to let the words slip. She could tell he was blushing. His face was as red as his hair when the moonlight shown on it. _

"_Kiss me," she let the words slip on purpose. She had always been curious what it would be like to kiss him. Fred walked over to her, pulled her close, and kissed her lips gently. _

"_That's all?" she teased after he pulled apart. She decided to lean in and kiss him again, this time, deeper than the first. She felt his heart race when they were together. As if he was telling her he wanted more. They broke apart after several minutes. _

"_Did the second kiss taste different to you?" She frowned as she pulled apart from him completely. _

"_Honestly, as much as I hate to admit, it felt like I was kissing my sister." Fred sighed looking ashamed. "Though, I would never kiss Ginny," he added. _

"_Then why do I feel so bad?" Hermione asked feeling a tug in her heart._

"_Because we wanted it to happen, but we realize it will never be a good thing. I didn't know how much of a sister you were to me till the second kiss," Fred admitted_

"_Thank you for a wonderful evening," Hermione said as the moon rose higher in the summer sky. _

A noise behind Hermione made her turn around. Crookshanks entered her bedroom making Hermione come back from her lost memory. She put the photo back in the box and shoved her box under her bed. Hermione gave her cat a hug, as she cradled it in her arms, she started crying once more.

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